


Subject

by yeaka



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: F/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21760417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Sulu provides transport.
Relationships: Hikaru Sulu/T'Pring
Kudos: 13





	Subject

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Trek or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

T’Pring should never have left Vulcan. It wasn’t far, and she wasn’t _supposed_ to be gone for very long—only a simple tour of a nearby pure-Vulcan colony, where the gardens looked so promising via transmission that she’d considered an investment. But she should’ve known that the crushing darkness of space just couldn’t be trusted. The transporters on the Vulcan craft that carried them went out with the brewing storm, and of course a Vulcan vessel would have no other means of transportation that would be more primitive.

Starfleet sent help as soon as it could, as a number of the members of the tour are well-established diplomats, but the _Enterprise_ is hardly what T’Pring wanted.

Her only solace is that Spock isn’t the one who came down with a shuttle. He didn’t even have the decency to be aboard it. The man who sits across from her is a human named _Hikaru Sulu_. With the _Enterprise_ ’s transporters disabled by the same force, several shuttlecrafts are doing the work. There are four other Vulcans sitting in the wing of T’Pring’s. She’s fully capable of playing co-pilot, but she allows Sulu to do the job he was sent to. It gives her time to contemplate her situation. She doesn’t appreciate being brought aboard a vessel with so few fellow Vulcans, but a part of her is also gratified to know that it’s very likely she will go the entire trip without seeing her betrothed at all.

He’s likely on the bridge, where he serves as a Starfleet puppet, content amongst a largely _human_ crew. T’Pring has never understood what Spock sees in the creatures. Out the corner of her eye, she watches the one that she’s been given. She’s not too proud to admit that Sulu is doing an excellent job piloting them out of the atmosphere. He makes it a smooth, easy ride despite the quiet storm. His gaze stays fixed on the viewscreen, his hands steady along the controls, mind clearly focused with impressive concentration. Beyond that, he isn’t so displeasing to look at.

He has nice hair. Almost _Vulcan_ —at least, the style most males and active officers prefer. As someone who leads a somewhat leisurely life, T’Pring can afford the more elaborate styles of old. Her dark hair is currently bundled atop her head, a long braid twisting down her shoulder. It took an hour to properly style in the morning, back before she realized the change in plans. If she’d known, she might’ve used the extra time to mediate in preparation for human contact.

So far, Sulu’s required no special preparations. He isn’t nearly so difficult as she’d imagined. He doesn’t have any frantic, chaotic energy, and he’s said nothing foolish. He seems strong, calm, appropriate. And he must be so much more than that to be the helmsman of Starfleet’s flagship. She can see the taut muscles pulling at his fitted uniform. He must be a practiced warrior, but wise enough to restrain that strength where necessary. She can see the skill in the movement of his hands. Whatever qualities Spock finds enticing in humans, Sulu surely processes. 

Maybe a part of T’Pring is mildly curious. There’s nothing wrong with curiosity—it often leads to knowledge and enlightenment. There’s no shame in clinically wondering what Sulu’s naked body might look like when unhindered by the Starfleet uniform. 

The ship smoothly docks within the Enterprise, the trip over indecently quick. His skill is even greater than she’d first estimated. Sulu raises his voice just enough to carry to the back, and he informs them all, “Well, we’re here. I’m going to wait in the shuttle since we’ll have warped back to Vulcan in less than an hour, but you’re all free to explore the ship in the meantime.”

T’Pring is the highest ranking of those in her shuttle. She says for all of them, “We will wait.” No one protests.

Sulu lifts a dark eyebrow at her, then slowly quirks a thin smile at the corner of his mouth. He couldn’t possibly know about her betrothal—Spock would never dishonor her by telling non-Vulcans. She would never dishonor him by betraying that. Certainly not in a shuttle full of witnesses.

But she can listen, and she can observe the intriguing creature that is _Hikaru Sulu_. For the next hour, she does.


End file.
